and Differing Beings we may reasonably judge that Several Worlds in the same Vniverse or Creation will supply us with very great Variety and Difference of Creatures 11. There may be Sundry Gradual Differences among the Same Kinds of Beings Thus 't is on Earth and so it may be in Other Parts of God's Creation amongst Men that are of the same Specifick Nature Gradual Varieties are almost Infinite some have the Perfections of Angels almost and others are raised but little above the Craftier sort of Brutes And the Intermediate Differences between these Extreams are innumerable And the same may be observed in other Kinds of Beings And this Variety together with the several Causes Reasons and Ends thereof will afford Great Subject and Matter for Speculation 12. The Supreme Heavens there is no doubt will afford and minister great Variety of Wonders to our Meditation 'T is the Palace of the Great King 't is the House of God the Place wherein he gives the greatest Demonstrations of his Glorious Perfections and especially of his Kindness and remunerating Bounty and Grate And certainly such a Place must needs be very Illustrious it must be adorned with things Great and Wonderful it must be embellished with what will create Extasie and Admiration Nothing Mean is seen in the Courts of Great Kings all things There are full of Splendour Stately Magnificenct and becoming Their Grandeur and Greatness And it cannot be supposed but that the Court of Heaven will be as Worthy of God and as Suitable to his Greatness as are the Courts of Mortal Kings 13. The Distance betwixt God and the Greatest Monarchs upon Earth is Infinite there is no Analogy or Proportion between their Greatness What Proportion is there between the Waters of the Sea and the Hollow of a Man's Hands What Proportion is there between the Dust of the Earth and a Measure Some Proportion there is between them because they are all Finite But between God and his Creatures even the Greatest and most Sublime amongst them there is no Proportion God being of Boundless and Infinite Perfections and they being all of Limited Nature and Qualities 14. If we may guess at the Glory of the Court of God by the Transcendent Greatness of his Essence and Perfections and I know not by what else we may make our Conjectures concerning it we must say That the Splendour of it surpasses that of the Courts of Mortal Kings almost as much as God surpasses Them The Fabrick of Heaven that House not made with Hands transcends the most Pompous Palaces of Princes almost as much as God Transcends Them in Power State and Glory 15. In the Kingdom of God at least after the Resurrection Man will be Compounded of a Body and a Soul And this Glorious Fabrick will contribute much towards the Happiness of both 'T will be an Object and a State suitable to the Senses and Appetites of the Glorious and Spiritual Bodies where-withal they will be endowed What those Senses and Appetites will be I cannot define nor how Great the Changes and Advantages will be that they will receive with the Change and Alteration of the Body on that Great Day But all confess and there is no doubt of it That the One will be the Rule and the Measure of the Other the Change of the Body will give Law as it were to the Change of the Senses and Bodily Appetites that shall be continued unto it 16. But 't is the Soul that will receive the Greatest Advantage and Happiness by the Injoyment and Possession of this House of God Thereby it will learn much of the Divine Excellencies and Perfections much of his Power Wisdom and Goodness much of his Love and Kindness much of the Vnfathomable Riches of his Grace And 't is therein that the Happiness of Man doth consist that I conceive is the Vision of God in which almost all Divines do place the Supreme Felicity and Happiness 17. Yet either Voluntarily or by Command the Blessed Inhabitants of Heaven may leave those Happy Mansions and traverse and view the Whole Creation of God Here we may observe Men travelling from One Kingdom to Another to observe the Manners and Customs the Laws Government and Institutions by which they are Governed and under which they Live as also to take Knowledge of whatsoever is Rare and Peculiar Stupendious and Worthy of Observation And I do not know but the Blessed may pass from One Part of the World to Another and behold what-ever is Curious and Admirable in them And what Wonders of Power Wisdom and Goodness may be found in every of them who can imagine And how much of the Glory of the Divine Attributes may be Illustrated by them who can determine 18. The Scriptures do assure us That the Holy Angels do sometimes converse and are imployed here Below ' Though Heaven be their Home and Countrey and they be therefore called the Angels of Heaven yet sometimes they spend a little time on Earth and many things do they observe and learn Here. What they know of the Redemption of the World by a Saviour and of the Warfare that is betwixt the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent they know by the Church and the Revelations that are made unto it together with the Experience that they have of the Conduct and Success thereof And if the Holy Angels of Heaven learn many things from This Earth the Blessed may learn many things from This and Other Worlds and Parts of God's Creation 19. For something may be known of God which the Heaven of Heavens doth not reveal or discover though they be a most Illustrious Glass in which the Face of God may be seen yet I am not sure that they do reveal all that the Blessed are capable of Knowing concerning him Something the Blessed may learn in Other Parts of the Universe which they cannot learn in the Paradise of God Not that God could not make it known unto them There but he chuses Several Creatures and Several Parts of the Creation upon which to impress the Image and Footsteps of his Perfections and by them to propose them to the View and Knowledge of Rational Beings for 't is they alone that are capable of seeing and beholding them 20. All God's Works do manifest and shew forth his Glorious Attributes and Perfections The Firmament sheweth his handy Work The Sun Moon and Stars in their Essence Regular Motions Influences and Effects do declare his Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness There is not a Creature in the Heavens or in the Earth which doth not teach and reveal something of the Admirable Excellency of their Maker And if This World and all the Beings in it do speak forth the Glory and Perfections of the Great God it cannot be doubted but that whatever Other Worlds there be have been or may be will speak the Same Language God makes all things for Himself that is for the Discovery of Himself and Illustration of
that forbids such Opinions or Apprehensions Though it Teaches no such Doctrine nor do I affirm it Certainly True or Necessary yet I find not any thing in the Contents thereof which is Opposite unto it or Inconsistent with it I do not affirm There shall be a Succession of Worlds equally Wicked with This and consequently such as shall need a Saviour and Redeemer But what hinders that there may not be a World yea Many Worlds that may retain Their Primitive Integrity and State and that God may Govern them by Natural and Revealed Laws since Adam whil'st Innocent was so Governed and after such a Part of Time as shall seem good to the Pleasure of his Will remove the Inhabitants thereof to Better and more Glorious Habitations 23. Yea let me add That I am not very sure that God Governs the Saints and Angels in Heaven by no other but Natural Laws The Service the they do to God Almighty either in the Protecting of Kingdoms Churches and Particular Persons or in Punishing his Enemies may in my Apprehension by performed in Obedience to some Positive and Particular Commands and Revelations For although Rewards and Punishments be of the Law of Nature yet the Time and of Measure them is not so What Law of Nature doth determine when and in what Degree and Measure the Enemies of God and of his People shall be Punished and Chastised What Law of Nature doth appoint when Kingdoms and Churches shall be protected or delivered out of the Hands of their Oppressors and such as seek their Ruine These things seem to me to depend on the Wisdom and Will of God and that there is no Possibility of coming to the Knowledge of them but by Immediate Revelation 24. And if in Particular Instantaneous Cases they are Governed by Revealed Laws what hinders but that in some other Cases they may be Governed by them through the vast Durations of Eternity Who knows but that there may be some Positive Institutions by which they may worship God and exalt his Praise And who ean tell how Various and Great may be the Number of them Or whether some of them may not be Temporary and Expire and others Succeed them of new Appointment and Command 25. If Innocent Adam were Governed by both Natural and Revealed Laws if it be not altogether improbable that the Blessed Saints and Angels are so Governed it cannot fairly be doubted but that the Inhabitants of Other Worlds may receive from God Both sorts of Laws for their Direction and Conduct and that the Knowledge of them that are Supernatural may Increase and Advance the Vnderstandings of the Blessed It being altogether as possible that they may arrive at the Knowledge of them as it is that the Angels of Heaven should partake in the Knowledge of the Christian Mysteries and Laws of which we are assured from the Sacred Volumes 26. Whether all that I have said on this Subject will render it probable that the Knowledge of the Blessed may Increase Eternally by Revelation I leave to the Judgment of the Reader I have suggested such Probabilities as occurred to my Thoughts Those that shall peruse them may Accept or Refuse them as they shall judge convenient or as they please CHAP. VI. Of the Increase of Knowledge by Historical Narration or Tradition 1. THat the Holy Saints and Angels are capable of Communicating their Thoughts and Sentiments to each other is not doubted by Divines nor is there any reason for it Man is a Sociable Creature 'T is a Property that seems to be Essential unto him And we have reason to think the like of the Holy Angels They are Vnderstanding Beings as well as Men and I believe they are endowed with the same Essential Properties with them And that Sociableness is as agreeable to the Angelical as to the Humane Nature and from both Equally inseparable 2. How they do Communicate with each other I do not Vnderstand nor peradventure Any Man living on the Face of this Earth He that will tell you how they do it must intimately understand the Nature of Spirits and whether they be Imbodied yea or no and what is the Nature of those Bodies and Vehicles in which they lodge or dwell But these are such things that no Man of Sound Sense can pretend unto And by certain Consequence no Man doth know the Manner how Saints and Angels do mutually Converse together and Entertain each other For whil'st we are ignorant of the Nature of things we must needs be ignorant How they produce their Effects We are very much ignorant of the Nature of our Food and Physick and therefore can't tell how they do perform their Operations on our Bodies Physicians are not yet agreed whether Purgatives do operate by Pulsion or Traction or meerly by Provoking Nature and they are as little agreed how our Meat and Drink are Digested Distributed and Turned into Blood and Humours and also into Flesh and Bones 3. Though we know not How very many things are done yet we are much assured that they Are. We know not How a Tree grows from a Seed nor a Curious Variegated Flower from a Slip that seems Simple and without any Diversity We can't tell How Beasts and Fishes are Formed nor how Vermine are Bred in a Carkass nor how Froggs are made of Spawn or the Mudd and Slime of the River Nile The Truth and Existence of these things is Vndeniable but How they are Made and Generated no Man is able to explain 4. If many things be Really Existent the Manner of whose Existence we can give no Fair Account of I see nothing that can reasonably hinder us from granting that Saints and Angels do Converse together and Communicate their Knowledge and Conceptions to each other ' This certain that They do many other things which we cannot Vnderstand or Comprehend They do or at least have often Appeared in Humane Shape and Conversed with Men. Whether they have become Visible by forming unto themselves Extemporate Bodies of the Matter of the Air and other Elements or whether they have condensed their Own Proper Bodies and made them Visible by Conspissating the Matter of them who can inform us Granting either of these Suppositions who can teach us how they do effect it These are Inquiries that the Wisest cannot Answer these are Problems that they cannot reach or fathome 5. Supposing then that Saints and Angels can Communicate their Knowledge I do affirm That the Knowledge of the Blessed may be very greatly Increased thereby For if there be or have been Other Worlds Existent besides This in which we live the Blessed may receive Information concerning them by and from the Angels of Heaven that have superintended them and by the Appointment of God taken Cognizance of their Affairs For it must not be doubted but that God exercises a particular Care and Providence over all the Works of his Hands and 't is as likely that he should make the Holy Angels the Instruments and
that All do so I cannot believe That there is no Difference between the Soul of the greatest Divine Philosopher or Statesman and that of the veriest Dolt or Ideot is to me an Improbable Paradox and I cannot but think that there is a Gradual Difference at least among Souls themselves 10. This Diversity I humbly conceive is found in all the Faculties and Powers of the Soul I mean in the Vnderstanding Will and Active or Executive Power In all these the Difference is Various according as Men's Love Service and Good Works may have been Various Here below Those that have been most Pious Holy and Abundant in the Works of Righteousness will have the Largest Understandings the most Vigorous Affections of Love Delight and Joy and the most Prompt and Ready Power and Method of Expressing them in Such Ways and by Such Means as are fit and congruous thereunto They will know most and love and rejoyce most and express this Love and Joy most readily in the Other World that served the Honour of God and the Good of Men most Industriously in This. They that have been Most Holy and lived Most to the Acceptation of God in Time will know Him Most fully and love Him Most passionately in Eternity And yet their Knowledge and Love as well as that of others may be capable of Increase and Augmentation as I have discoursed before 11. And there may be as great Diversity in the Bodies and Bodily Organs and Senses of the Blessed as there is in their Minds Some may be more Pure and Spiritual than others and consequently more Agile and Fit for Motion Some may have their Senses and the several Organs and Instruments thereof More Perfect and Compleat than Others and consequently more Capable of apprehending their Objects and Perceiving all the Perfections and Curiosities in them Some may have a More Large and Extensive Presence than others and therefore be capable of inspecting at One View more of the Works of God which renders them More affecting and More amazing He that stands upon a High Hill or Turret beholds More things than he that stands in a Valley and is much More pleased and delighted therein yea is much more ravished with Admiration of them 12. How great may be the Variety and Gradual Difference among the Blessed in these things cannot be determined Great have been the Numbers of Men that since the Creation have dwelt on the Face of this Earth and yet perhaps there were never Two among them in All things and Totally alike Some Difference in the Mixture of the Elements of which they were Compounded in the Shape Figure and Proportion of their Bodies in the Features of their Faces and Beauty of their Countenances might be seen and observed upon them And as Various may be the Difference of the Glorious Bodies of the Blessed The Starrs are Vastly numerous and yet perchance the Difference of their Glory may be as Great as their Number and that None of them are in all things Alike and Equal And such may be the Inequalities among the Inhabitants of the Celestial Kingdom 13. And it may be Modestly supposed that the Love of God to the Blessed may be as Various as their Glory and Perfections are The more Glorious and Perfect any Creature is the more Like he is to God and certainly the More Like any Creature is to God the More it is Beloved of Him Why else doth God despise the Heaven and the Earth in comparison of an Humble and Contrite Spirit and one that trembleth at his Word Isa 66.1 2. Is it not because there is More of his Image on such a Person than on the Frame and Fabrick of the Material Earth and Heavens Why doth God love and take more delight in the Man Christ Jesus than in Men and Angels and all the Holy Myriads that are About his Throne of which I think there is no doubt Is it not for this Reason that He is a far more Illustrious Image of his Attributes and Perfections than Any or All of them 14. How God will manifest a Various and Different Affection to the Blessed according to the Difference of their Perfections I cannot affirm Whether he will do it by Internal Effusions of Joy and Consolation or by External Effects and Demonstrations or by both which seems most probable I know not that 's a Question that I will leave for the Determination of the Other World But that God can and doth do it is past doubt with me He manifests a Peculiar Love to his Only Beloved Son and can do so to All the Members of his Body in Several Measures and Proportions 15. This great Variety of Love and Affection will Cause no Envy or Emulation Among the Blessed for they are free of all Sinful Passions Affections and Inclinations and do rejoyce in the Effusions and Manifestations of the Love of God to Others as well as to Themselves Particular Advantages are Matter of Common Joy As All the Heavenly Quires do Rejoyce in the Preheminence of Christ Jesus so do they in the Advantages of Each other 16. But tho this Variety causes no Envy or Emulation in Heaven yet methinks the Meditation of it should be a great Spur and Incentive to Piety Virtue and Good Works here on Earth Certainly it ought to make us abound in all the Fruits of Righteousness that so we may be capable of the Greatest Manifestations of the Love of God since those that are most Diligent in his Service since those that are the most Pious and Virtuous in This World will be the most Glorious and Excellent in the Other and those that are most Worthy will be most Beloved of God and receive the Greatest Evidences and Demonstrations of his Affection The Consideration of it should put us upon vigorous Endeavours after a mighty Holiness and Virtue that we may be the Objects of God's Choice and Peculiar Love in Heaven 17. 'T is a Question controverted among Divines whether the Blessed have any Knowledge of each other in the Kingdom of Heaven And I humbly conceive that from what I have said in the Fore-going Pages 't will not be Difficult to resolve it So Long a Tract of Time as Eternity may minister sundry Occasions and Opportunities to Friends and Relations for the Knowing of Each other And since 't is not spent in Solitude and Retirements but in Mutual Presence Society and Conversation 't is not possible Almost that they should escape the Knowledge of one Another 18. The Memory and Narration of the Mighty Works and Providences of God of which they had Knowledge in This World will bring Men to the Cognizance of each other There There is a Twofold Memory in Man there is a Sensitive and an Intellectual Memory The First of these depends upon those Ideas and Similitudes of things that by the Mediation of our Senses have been Impressed upon our Minds The Other depends of Such things as by Reason and Discourse are fixed
his Boundless Perfections 21. God knows his Own Excellencies and needs no Effects for the Discovery of them He needs not This or any Other World to acquaint himself with the Extent of his Power his Wisdom or his Goodness These and all his other Attributes are Perfectly understood by him He Doth not nor Cannot learn any thing concerning them from the Works of his Hands His Creatures do not teach him Knowledge nor doth he gain any Vnderstanding by the Effects of his Creative Power and Virtue 22. Therefore Reasonable Creatures must contemplate and behold them or 't will be Very hard in my Apprehension to give any fair Account of them Of what Use were the Heavens and the Earth the Sea and the Dry Ground with those various and almost innumerable sorts and kinds of Beings that are in it if there were no Intelligent Beings to Behold View and Consider them Why were they Made and why did God engrave his Own Image and impress the Characters of his Own Perfections on them if there were no Intellectual Essences to observe them And if this Fabrick that our Eyes behold were made to be a Glass in which Men and Angels might see and contemplate the Glory of its Maker such will be the Use of all Other Worlds that have been are or may be They will be also Mirrors in which understanding and intelligent Beings will behold the Glory of God and among them the Blessed-Inhabitants of Heaven 23. 'T is true in the Present State and by reason of the Darkness and Impotence that Sin hath introduced upon the Soul of Man this World is in great degree useless with regard to the Principal and Main end of it 'T was Built Framed and Fashioned to Reveal God unto them and it bears very Apparent Characters of a Deity upon it But Man is Blind and cannot See them or Lazy and Negligent and will not observe them or ingaged in the Prosecution of Pleasures Profits and Honours and cannot attend to consider them But in my Opinion this only proves That there are other Intellectual Beings that do contemplate God in the Several Creatures and Sorts of Essences that are here below And that though the World were made chiefly to reveal God to Man yet that was not the Only Vse of it but that Angels might therein see and behold the Glory of God And if This World were made partly for the Use and Contemplation of Angels 't is not improbable but that This and Other Worlds may be also made partly for the Use and Contemplation of the Blessed and Glorified Saints of Heaven 24. Yet I must add That This World is of Vse to Mankind Some among them do See and Discern a God If Infinite Excellency and Perfection therein and More might do so if they would apply themselves to Consider it Thought Sin hath darkned the Eye of the Mind it hath not Vtterly extinguished and put it out Something it may still See of God in the Creation if it would put it self on the Meditation of them But if it were granted That Mankind were utterly disabled from Seeing or Learning any thing of God from the Things that are seen yet it would not follow that it were Vseless to him Things may be in their own Nature Vseful to certain Ends and Purposes though Men may have Voluntarily made themselves incapable of Vsing them Wholsom Meat and Drink may be Vseful for the nourishing of Humane Bodies though Some Persons may have so injured their Constitution and destroyed their Stomachs and Digestive Faculties by Intemperance that they are uncapable of making that Vse of it And 't is certain that the World were of Vse to teach Men God though Man were Vtterly disabled so to Vse and Imploy it 25. The Sum of what I have said in this Chapter is this The World in which we Live and do Behold is of very Large and Great Extent the Species and Kinds of Beings in it are Very greatly Numerous There may have been Other Worlds Pre-existent to This there may be Others Co-existent with it and Others may Succeed it to an Indefinite and Vnlimited Period All God's Works Shew forth his Glory they are Vseless to their main End and Intention if there be no Intelligent Natures to Behold and Consider them Angels do Behold and Consider the Works of God in This Sublunary World And 't is not improbable in my Judgment that the Glorious Saints of Heaven may see and behold the Glory of God in the Works that he hath made and done in This and many Other Worlds And so Great and almost Infinitely various may they be as to minister Eternal Matter of Contemplation and an Increase of Knowledge for evermore CHAP. IV. Of the Several Ways and Means of obtaining Knowledge and first of Knowledge by Intuition 1. THe Ways and Means of Obtaining and Increasing Knowledge are Various I shall reduce them to these Heads 1. Intuition 2. Historical Narration 3. Revelation 4. Discursive Argumentation That I be not misunderstood I shall here premise That I do not Positively affirm that the Knowledge of the Blessed will increase by all These Ways in the World to come nor that there are no Other Ways of making Addition to it All that I shall affirm is That 't is Possible yea and Probable that it may be augmented by them 2. By Intuition I mean a present Inspection of Things or a View of them as they are presented to us and set before us Knowledge of things by present Intuition is distinguished from that Knowledge of things that we have by considering the Signs Images and Representations of them The Knowledge that I have of Persons Cities Villages and Countreys by ocular and present Inspection differs from the Knowledge that I have of them by viewing their Pictures and Statues or inspecting the Maps and Delineations of them The Knowledge that we have of the Glory of the Kingdom of God and the Person of our Saviour in it differs much from that which the Blessed Saints and Angels have concerning them Theirs is Present and Intuitive Ours is Absent and Abstractive We obtain it by considering the Reports that are made and the Descriptions that are given of them in the Book of God Whereas Theirs is attained by the Vision Presence and Inspection of those things themselves 3. In this World 't is but very little that we know by Intuition and the Reasons are our Presence is Limited and Confined We are fixed to a Little Spot of God's Creation and can View at once but few of the Creatures of God And though by Local Motion we are able to remove our selves from Place to Place and view Many things Successively by present Intuition which at Once we cannot do yet the Sphere of our Activity is small and 't is with Difficulty and Slow Motions that we do pass through it It takes up a Great deal of time to inspect the Beings that may be seen in a Circumference of a few Miles
the Moon be an Habitable World as it is not altogether Improbable I see no reason why we may not think the same of all the other Luminous Bodies that are placed in the Expanded Heavens If that Planet be a World much like our Earth the Sun may be a World something advanced above it in Lustre and in Glory And the Inhabitants thereof may be Illustrious in proportion to their Countrey and excel Us who live upon This Earth as much as the Lustre and Brightness of the One surmounts the Shadows and Darkness of the Other 24. And the Blessed being of a Very Active Nature and capable of moving with Velocity and Swiftness may step from Star to Star and Intuitively observe what-ever is Wonderful and Worthy of Observation there They may observe what-ever in them is fit to Exalt the Honour and Advance the Praâ—â—ens of their Great Creatour And it needs not to be doubted but they will find Sufficient Reasons and Occasions for it There is something Great in all the Works of God upon the Surface of this Earth and in the Seas and Rivers that run within the Banks and Shores thereof And surely the more Illustrious Worlds and Parts of the Creation will produce things vastly Greater than any that are found Here below and more Worthy of Admiration 25. But no Part of the Vniverse will produce things so Great as will the Court of Heaven There shall we see and behold the Bravest the most Stately and most Magnificent Effects of the Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness And how Great is the Extent of that Glorious Palace and what great Variety of Beings may be found There who can determine If the Earth compared with the Heavens be but a Point the Heavens compared with the Heaven of Heavens may be much more so the Extent thereof may be almost Infinite And though there should be no Other Worlds either Past Present or to Come yet even That alone might employ Eternal Ages to view and behold the Wonders and the Glories of it 26. There may be various Kinds of Rational and Intellectual Essences or Beings There may be Pure Minds and such as are utterly Immaterial and there may be Several Gradual Differences amongst them There may be Angels Incorporate and furnished with Material Organs much of the same Nature with those where-with the Blessed will be endued at the Resurrection And among these there may be very many Gradations and Modal Differences and Distinctions and among the Saints the Gradual Differences may be very great and many and so may be the Reasons of them And all these will lie open to our View and Meditation 27. What Kinds of Beings may be designed and prepared for the Ornament of the New Jerusalem that City of the Living God I cannot say or determine But forasmuch as there are many things Here below which besides the Illustration of the Divine Perfections seem to be of little or no use unless it be to Embellish and Adorn the World and render it Pleasant to our View so 't is probable that in the House and Kingdom of God many things may be placed There to make it Beautiful and Pleasant to those that shall be thought Worthy of Admission Thither And these Beings may be of Several Kinds and Natures and may minister Matter to our Contemplation as well as Pleasure to the Bodily Senses where-withall we shall be endued There 28. But the most Amazing Wonder that will be proposed to the Intuition and Contemplation of the Blessed will be our Lord Christ Jesus He that was sometimes the most Despised of Mortal Men is There the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He that was the Contempt of Men is the Object even of Angel's Admiration He that sometimes stood before the Tribunal of Pontius Pilate is already Appointed Judge of the Living and the Dead and all must come before his Judgment-Seat and receive their Sentence from Him And how great the Excellencies and Perfections of this Jesus are who will undertake to Characterize or Describe 29. A God indeed in the Humane Nature He cannot be but certainly He is and will remain the most Glorious and Resplendent Image of God in the Whole Creation He had never been Exalted far above all Principalities and Powers Angels and Authorities had never been made Subject to Him if He had not greatly surpassed them in his Personal and Essential Perfections and Advantages His Power Wisdom and Goodness his Presence his Providence his Government and Empire is much more Large and Perfect than that of any other Created Essence And therefore He hath obtained a more Excellent Name than any of them and is advanced and set before them 30. Of this Jesus the Blessed will have a present Intuition not only in his Personal but Politick Capacity They will behold him as Head of Saints and Angels the Captain-General of all the Hosts of Heaven the most Illustrious Being that presides over them and under the Pure Deity Directs and Governs them and Communicates Vital Influences unto them For although the Scripture doth assure us That the Work of Man's Restauration and Salvation beign accomplished He shall Give up the Kingdom to God the Father yet I do conceive that He will always retain the Honour and Title of the Saviour and Redeemer of Men and that as the Sun doth Illustrate this Inferiour World so that Son of Righteousness will Illustrate the Supreme and Heavenly Jerusalem The Lamb is the Light of it And the Blessed shall Eternally Behold and Dwell in his Light to their incredible Pleasure and Satisfaction But of the â—ncrease of Knowledge by Intuition I have said enough and therefore here I 'le put a Period to This Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Increase of Knowledge by Revelation 1. WHen God made Man he endued him with Reasonable Faculties and made him capable of Moral Government He was able to understand his Duty and by the Prospect of Rewards and Punishments he could chuse the Observance and refuse the Neglect and Contempt thereof He was able to See and Discern the Meaning and Importance of the Divine Commandments and he could upon consideration of its Advantages chuse Obedience and on the Prevision of its Mischiefs refuse Disobedience and Sin 2. The Laws by which God intended to Govern Mankind were written in the Nature of Things and from thence they were to derive the Knowledge of them The several Beings in the World considered with Relation to God and one Another are the Signs of the Divine Will and Divine Laws are nothing else but the Significations of God's Will concerning Man's Duty Reward and Punishment and the Whole Creation at least as far as Man is capable of observing it are the Revealing Signs thereof 3. God did not Reveal all his Will concerning Man's Duty even whil'st Innocent in the Nature of Things but some Part of it He made known even then by Supernatural Revelation Such was the Prohibition of Eating of the Fruit of the
Superstitions and to recover a great part of the Christian World to the true Worship of God according to the Simplicity pf the Gospel This was a thing Totally improbable there was no appearance or likelihood of Success therein 16. Of these things we have Some Account in the Holy Scriptures and in Antient and Modern Histories The Scriptures give us some brief Reports of the Raising of the Christian Church and by what Means 't was done The Histories of the Antique Fathers and Writers report the Increase and Enlargement of it and by what Instruments 't was accomplished and with what Opposition And so do our latter Historians make Report of the Late Reformation and by what Agents and Second Causes it became successful But I do not doubt but that the Saints and Angels do and will give more Large and Perfect Accounts of these things 17. And how particular they may be in it who is able to determine But 't is my Opinion that they will be very Exact and Particular Heaven is designed for the Exaltation of the Divine Praise and for the Celebration of the Honour of God's Persections which cannot be done without Knowledge and the most Exact and Perfect Knowledge gives the Greatest and Best Capacities for it None are so fit to admire Praise and adore the Attributes and Perfections of God as those that have the Largest and Compleatest Knowledge of the Great and Stupendious Effects of them He is best able to commend a Learned Man that hath read his Books and hath the most Intimate and Perfect Understanding of his Accomplishments He is best able to speak forth the Praises of God that hath the Fullest and most Extensive Knowledge of his Providence and his Works 18. How can any Man Praise and Adore the Wisdom of God in the Raising Preserving and Defending his Church in despight to all the Craft Subtilty and Malice of the Enemies thereof without the Knowledge of the Divine Conduct in all its Affairs and Concernments How can the Blessed praise the Power the Wisdom the Justice and Goodness of God in the Government of the Church without an Exact Knowledge of God's Dealings with it And how can they have any Cognizance of them but by the Tradition and Discourses of Saints and Angels 'T is true God may give them the Knowledge of them by Revelation and I will not deny but that some of the Providences of God towards his Church may be so Made known unto them But 't is not God's usual Method in This World to do those things by Supernatural Ways and Means which may be done by those that are Natural nor do I believe that it will be his Ordinary Way in That which is to come Some Peculiarities of Dispensations perhaps he may make known by Revelation but the Ordinary Way of imparting to the Blessed the Series of his Dispensations towards the Church will be by Historical Narration and Tradition 19. There hath been a perpetual War between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent or which is all alone between the Subjects and People or Church of God and the Subjects and Vassals of the Devil And as the visible Contests and Battels that have been managed by these two Kingdoms under their Heads and Chieftains will be discoursed and related among the Blessed so I do not doubt but that the Invisible Wars that have been managed by Michael and his Angels in favour of the Church against the Dragon and his Angels in prejudice unto it will be very largely laid open there And how Large and Extensive the Knowledge thereof may be who can say And if the Sevenal Smaller Instances and Particulars thereof be made known as 't is probable they will how Numerous and almost Infinite will they be And how many Ages may be spent in the Communication of the Knowledge of them 20. Multitudes of very strange Events do happen and occur to Kingdoms Nations and Churches and particular Families and Persons of which we are able to give no Account because we have No Knowledge or at least very Little of them or their Affairs We know not what their Mercies have been nor what are their Sins and Provocations We know not what are their Qualities and Dispositions nor what are their Temptations and therefore can't reckon for the Various and Strange Providences that do betide them But in the Other World when we shall have an Historical Narrative of all those things 't will be easie to give a reason of all the Strange Events that did betide them If a Person should be taken out of a Cave or some Place of Secresie and Silence after many Years Retirement and Abode there and brought to a Place where Publick Executions are done and there see Men Hung by the Neck cut down ere they were Dead their Bowels taken out their Members cut off and burnt before their Faces and their Bodies cut into Quarters after the manner of Beasts 't is not to be doubted but that he would be Strangely Amazed at such a Procedure But when he should afterward be acquainted with their Natures and Dispositions their Actions and their Designs and receive a full History and Narrative of them he would be able to give himself a Reason of all these Severities and be abundantly Satisfied in the Wisdome and Equity of them 21. The Affairs of the World and the Church are so much Mingled and Confounded that the One cannot be known without the Other The Victories and Triumphs of the Church can't be mentioned or proposed to Consideration without remembring the Attempts and Assaults that were made upon them by the Men of the World The Triumphs of the Church over Judaisme and Paganisme can't be reported without mention of the Great and Furious Opposition that was made by the Jews and Pagans The Success and Conquests of the True Church of God upon the Apostate Romish Synagogue cannot be called to mind without a Rehearsal of its Great and Enraged Opposition unto it 22. And truly This World being a Stage or Theater and the several Revolutions and Changes in it being only so many Scenes and Parts of the Comedy or rather of the Tragedy and the Glorious Saints and Angels being the Spectators and they all being to give to God the Praise after the great Catastrophe and Conclusion of all things It seems to me very probable that they shall have a Very Perfect Knowledge of all the Affairs of it No Man can judge of the Skill and Contrivance the Wit and Ingeny of a Comedian that hath not a full and clear Knowledge of all the Parts of the Comedy And sure it is that no Man can reasonably and as it becomes a Man judge of the Infinite Wisdom and Curious Skill of God in the Various Changes and Mutations that are seen in the World unless he hath a Large and Comprehensive Knowledge of them No Man can give that Applause to the Wisdom Justice and Goodness of God as is Suitable
perfectly Free from all Sin both of Inclination Habit and Act the Plague of the Heart is perfectly cured there remains not any thing of the Old Nature upon their Souls yea they are freed of all Sinful Ignorance they know all that is Their Duty to know and all that is Necessary for the Performance of it But whether they Know all that ever they shall Know or are Capable of Knowing is Another Question God made Man upright Eccles 7. ult That is He made him without Sinful Imperfection But that they knew as much the first Day of their Creation as they would have Known had they lived a Thousand Years in their Innocent State I do not believe Our Lord Jesus was Perfect with respect to Sin at his Birth yet He had not then Attained all attainable Excellencies for He increased in Wisdom and Stature and in Favour with God and Men Luk 2.52 And if our Blessed Saviour and our First Parents were Perfect before they had attained all the Wisdom and Knowledge they were capable of so may the Blessed in the Future State 6. 4. Those very Persons that do assert the Perfection of the Blessed immediately upon their Departure hence and Admission into the Kingdom of Glory do yet acknowledge that the Resurrection will add something to the Increase of their Knowledge yea and of their Happiness also And 't is a thing so plain that it cannot be denyed Will the Saints in Heaven know no more after the Resurrection than they did before Will those Works of Wonder add nothing to the Enlargement of their Vnderstandings Will their Knowledge receive no Advange thereby This were a manifest Contradiction in any Man that should affirm it So then I hope I may conclude That if Perfection be reconcileable with an Increase of Knowledge before the Resurrection it may be reconcileable with it afterwards 7. 5. To what hath been said I may add That the Angels of Heaven without doubt were made Perfect Yet surely the Creation Government and Affairs ot This World hath Added much to their Knowledge That they have been Imployed in them and consequently have had Knowledge of them the Scriptures do assure us and I am past all Scruple concerning it Yea I am inclin'd to think that this Inferior World was made for the Use of Angels as well as Men and in it they behold the Glory of God and the most Illustrious Perfections of their Maker an have Learned very many Things from the Contemplation of it Yea 't is my Opinion that they have ascribed much more of the Praise thereof to God than ever was done by Mortals The Creation and Providence of God are a very Clear Glass in which are discovered the Attributes and Perfections of God But since the Fall Man's Eyes have been so Impaired that they could not discern them nor give him the Praise of them But that which I would infer from this Paragraph is this If an Increase of Knowledge be consistent with Perfection in Angels it may be consistent with it in the Blessed Saints If the one were Perfect before they had obtained much of that Knowledge that now they are possessed with the other may be Perfect in the same Sense though they want much of that Knowledge that they may and certainly will obtain 8. 2. Object The Future State is a State of Rest and Fruition The Blessed are there said to rest from their Labours and their Works to follow them Rev. 14.13 which seems inconsistent with an Increase of Knowledge forasmuch as Knowledge is not obtained without Labour especially that which comes by Ratiocination and the Exercise of our Reason on such Beings as are presented to us To this Objection I reply as followeth 9. 1. The Soul of Man is a very Active Being Action is of the very Essence of it and can no more in my Apprehension be Separated from it than Heat from Fire or Extension from Natural Bodies If you separate Action from Humane Minds you Destroy them If they do Nothing they are Nothing Not to Act and not to Be are the same thing with them The Cessation of their Being is equipollent to the Cessation of their Action and Operation God is a Pure Act Souls are his Image and in the Activity of their Nature they are a Representation of Him 10. 2. The Rest of the Humane Soul therefore as I do humbly conceive consists very much in the Performance of such Actions and the Use of such Imployments as are congruous and suitable to its Nature and to the End and Intent for which it was made Man's Inferior Faculties and Senses have their proper Ends Actions and Operations and in the Exercise and Use of them on their own peculiar Objects they find and experience all the Content and Satisfaction that they are capable of And surely the Rest and Happiness of the Rational Soul must likewise Consist in the Exercise of its Active Powers upon Congruous and Suitable Objects And the Philosopher some where places Humane Felicity in Action and not in a Dull Inactive Stupor 11. 3. There is nothing more Suitable and Agreeable to the Humane Soul than the Exercise of its Intellectual Faculty on the Being Nature and Properties of things This is Wonderfully Congruous and therefore Pleasant to it It delights to consider the Nature of things and from those things that are more evident to Infer those that are less and also from the Effect to Infer the Cause and from the Intermediate Causes to Ascend by several Steps and Progressions to the First Primitive and Original Cause of all things This Labour is its Rest this Work is its Reward this Vse of its Powers is their Felicity and their Glory This is the Imployment which they do desire in which they are pleased and in which they will find Repose yea Ravishment and Extasies for ever 12. 4. Though the Mind of Man finds some Difficulty in the obtaining of Knowledge here Below and though it costs It much Painful Study to attain any considerable Degree or Measure of it yet I see no Reason to conclude or suspect any such thing in the Kingdom of Heaven It will receive so much Inlargement Perfection and Advantage by its Ascent thither that 't will be no more Trouble to advance in Knowledge than 't is for us to turn Our Eyes from one Object to another and to observe the Beauty and Proportions of them 13. 5. A Diseased Eye cannot behold the Light without some Trouble and Offence though it be the Proper Object thereof and the Medium by which all other things become Visible yet if it be Sore it becomes very Offensive unto it and if you can but cure or remove that Distemper Light becomes Pleasant unto it again Since Man became Sinful his Understanding Faculty hath suffered great Diminution 't is Indisposed and Vncapable in great degree of obtaining Knowledge though that were the End for which it was created and what it doth obtain is not without
and engraven upon it The First kind of Memory I think will be of Little or No Vse in this Case For though it should be granted that it should retain the Ideas of things There yet forasmuch as there is no Counterpart of them in the Things themselves all being obliterated by the Death and Dissolution of the Body and not restored by the Resurrection I do not see how the Blessed can thereby take any Cognizance or Knowledge of Each Other but the Intellectual Memory will be of Great Use in this Affair We shall There remember that we were born of Such and Such Parents and received Such and Such Instructions from them and lived under the Teaching of Such and Such Preachers and in the Neighbourhood and Society of Such Persons Friends and Acquaintance with many other things And the mention of any of them in the Mutual Society and Conversation of the Blessed will bring them to the Personal Knowledge of each other 19. But besides this Way of Knowing each other there may be several Other Ways of obtaining it such as the Tradition of Angels and Blessed Spirits they may possibly Inform such as shall come After them to the Kingdom of Heaven who have in the times Preceding been admitted Thither and where are their Proper Mansions and Places of Abode and Residence and perhaps Some Knowledge of each other may be impressed upon the Minds of the Blessed by Inspiration 20. But forasmuch as the Souls of the Blessed are carried hence and by the Ministration of Angels removed to Heaven and placed in Mansions There peradventure by the Will of God those that have been allyed either by Nature Neighbourhood or Conversation may be placed near together in That House of God and then a Little Discourse may Soon bring them to the Knowledge of each other or the Angels may openly and in the Presence of All declare Who they have brought Thither and joyned to their Society and Number 21. One thing more I will add to what I have already inferred from the Precedent Discourse Eternity will unfold all the Mysteries and Wonders of Divine Providence There are Many and great Labyrinths now in it and we cannot Search them out nor give any Account thereof But Eternity will unvail them and set them Open and Plain before us The Wisdom Holiness Justice Goodness and Truth of God will be Conspicuous in every thing He hath done All Objections will be Satisfied and 't will Appear that there was nothing of Iniquity or Vnrighteousness in any of them 22. What Troubled us to see and indure will be Pleasant to remember when we have understook the Reasons of it 'T was Grievous to us to have the Wicked prosper and the Righteous suffer by their Hands 'T was an Affliction to us to behold the Church of God under Persecution and the Enemies thereof bringing their Wicked Devices to pass But the Memory of these things will be Grateful when we shall be gloriously instructed in the Reasons and Effects of them 23. And thus I have said many things in favour of the Question that in the Beginning I undertood to defend But I am not Dogmatical in what I have said nor shall I be offended with any Man that is of Other Apprehensions In things of This Nature I am content that Men think as they please or according as their Reason shall direct them which I am sure is Sufficiently various I have taken the Liberty to suggest my Own Thoughts on this Subject and I have no desire to retrench to Other Men the Liberty of Theirs If any Man shall propose any thing Better either in favour of this Opinion or in Confutation of it it shall be Equally acceptable to me An Appendix 1. SInce what I have said in the Fourth Chapter concerning the Extensiveness of the Presence of Christ's Humane Nature looks like a Paradox and 't is possible that those that read it may be startled I shall add a few Paragraphs to a farther Explication of my Mind about it 2. 'T is certain that Prayers and Supplications have been made to Christ Jesus in all Ages of the Christian Church Christians have addressed themselves to Christ both in their Private and Publick Devotions In all their Needs and Wants they have applied themselves to Him 3. 'T is undeniable that the Holy Scriptures do give us very great Incouragement to pray before Him and make known our Requests unto Him They assure us that He is a Merciful High Priest and such a One As is touched with the Feeling of our Infirmities having been in all Points tempted as we are and that therefore we may come boldly to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4.14 15. 4. He himself hath promised to hear the Prayers that we make before Him Whatsoever you shall ask in my Name that will I do and if you ask any thing in my Name I will do it Joh. 14.13 14. 5. 'T was the Humane Nature of our Lord Jesus that was Tempted in all things as we are and is therefore compassionate and hath a Sense and Feeling of our Infirmities The Divine Nature is Merciful but not because it was In all things Tempted as we are for it is not capable of Temptations 'T is only the Humane Nature that was tempted and in that Sense can be said to be Merciful 6. Therefore the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus nath Knowledge of our Prayers Wants and Temptations How else is He touched with a Feeling of our Infirmities How else doth He Minister Grace to help in time of need Or can these things be done without any Knowledge of our State our Needs or our Supplications 7. Either the Humane Nature of our Saviour hath an Immediate Knowledge of these things or else it partakes in the Knowledge of them by a Communication from the Divine Nature If it be said That the Humane Nature hath an Immediate Knowledge of them I infer from thence the Extensiveness of Christ 's Presence For that He should know them Immediately without a large and diffusive Presence is I think impossible and more than is asserted of the Deity it self the Omniscience and Vniversal Providence of God being founded in the Immensity and Vnboundedness of His Presence 8. If it be said That the Knowledge of our Infirmities and Prayers is communicated to the Humane Nature of our Saviour by the Divine I do not understand how Christ Jesus is capable of that Knowledge unless his Essence and consequently his Presence be of Large and Extensive Nature Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis The Hills cannot be weighed in Scales nor the Mountains in a Pair of Ballances the Dust of the Earth cannot be comprehended in a Measure nor the Waters in the Hollow of a Man's Hand Nor can a Created Understanding and such is that of the Humane Nature in Christ Jesus comprehend all the Needs Wants and Infirmities of Christians by whatsoever